Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-13
CAPTURED IN NEW YORK. The Murderers Of Mrs.
 Ernst Arrested.
THE STORY OF THE TRAGEDY.
The Victim Dies By Ch1O-
 rOfOrm.


 Keeper of Saloon and Thieves' Re.
 sort in New YOrk-A woman's Deten-
 tI0n-She Says That Cham berlaIn Con- | fessed to Her That He Took Hand i'm
 the Murder - Chamberlain Free
 quenter of Mrs. Ernst's Place-How
 the New York Police Got the Clues
 Taylor Confesses How the Midnight
 Tragedy Was Accomplished - The
 BnriaI of the Murdered Woman.
 Have they got the murderers yet?
 They have, with evidence sufficient to convict.
 Tuesday the New Haven public were shocked ! when they read the account of the terrible tragedy which had been enacted at the tene- ment house No. 35 Spruce street.
 Mrs. Margaret Ernst, an aged German lady seventy-two years old, was discovered foully murdered. She lay dead on sofa in her room bound, gagged and robbed. She had been choked to death. Her bosom, where she had concealed s40O had been rifed of its contents and the apartments thoroughly | ransacked in search of more money. Another is added to Connecticut's long list of unfathomed murders, soliloquized all who ! r0au or the CaS0 dl1lO Guo dDSoACc OI any clues. The details furnished little hope that the dastardly perpetrator would be readily I discovered and the prospects were that Con- | necticut's fair name would again be stained. | They thought of the shoe box mystery and the Jennie Cramer, Mary Stannard and Rose | Amber cases, and wondered whether the po- 1 lice would strain every nerve to clear up the mystery. The police did all that could pos | sibly be expected of them. No stone was left unturned.
 The discovery of the murderers in this case | was not due to any work of the New Haven police force, to use the words of Chief Boil I man. It was due almost, if not entirely, to Inspector Byrnes, of New York city. To him the State owes the credit of the arrest of the murderers.
 The story of the arrests and the clues | which led to them is long The first | that the reporters knew that any arrest had been made was at o'clock last evening" Chief Bollman had been absent from the city all day. Inquiries as to his whereabouts proved fruitless. Shortly before the above named hour he was espied in the vicinity of thef police office trying to evade notice. When he saw he had been discovered he said it was no use and he would give what he had to the press.
 He had been in New York city all day
 
 New York, had the murderers "undsr sur | veillance," said he. They are liable to be arrested before morning, but further than \ this Ican say nothing. At this point in the 1 conversation Lieutenant Wrinn handed the chief telegram from the New York inspee | tor. He read the contents and heaYed sigh | of relief. It read:
 ! have just arrested the people who murdered Mrs Margaret Ernst last Monaay night in your session to convict them Will send you particulars later The reporters crowded around during the ! reading of the letter and soon the chief was ' besieged by questioners.
 "What are their names P'
 "I can't say yet"
 "Did they ever reside in New Haven't" "Gentlemen, you will have to wait until l later for the particulars. I can't break faith with Inspector Byrnes, whom I have prom ! ised would not give any of the facts away. I really have nothing to do with the arrests. It is in the entire charge of the inspector | and at this end there is but little to impart. I will give you more later. I expect one of Inspector Byrnes' detectives to arrive in this \ city sometime this evening" | After considerable persuasion the chief | consented to the sending of 8 telegram by himself to Inspector Byrnes with the request ! from the press for more information concern \ ing the case.
 | The telegram of inquiry read: ''Can I give to reporters what information have concern \ ing the cases'
 At 11:3O the following was received from | the inspector:
 "Yes, you can give them. have no objec- tions.'
 Chief Bollman through Lieutenant Wrinn l then allowed the use of the following, which had arrived after the dispatch printed above | addressed to the chief:
 | s'You want to obtain warrants information l and belief for James F. Taylor and Henry B. Cham. soon possible. Detective Sergeant Cosgroye will 1 explain particulars
 Chief Bollman said all was chaos when he l was in New York at noon yesterday. h. 1 spector Byrnes had the parties named in his | dispatch under strict surveillance, but did not at the time have enough evidence to war l rant an arrest. The chief told the Neustrum girls story substantially as printed in the COURIER yesterday morning. Of | the many people examined and subjected to the closest surveillance the evidence of only one led to any clue whatsoever, and that was
 Miss Neustrum. It will be remembered that
 before Miss Minnie was examined the police | were unable to locate anyone in the vicinity of the murdered woman's house after 10:30 o'clock. Minnie's testimony showed that there were two men in the yard at 12 o'clock. FsThe girls testimony is the only evidence l at the New Haven end of the case, said Chief Bollman. But Inspector Byrnes un-
 doubtedly has plenty of evidence to convict
 the men or he wouldn't say so.
 It is supposed that the description of the men given by Miss Minnie to the police We'd | nesday night corresponded with that of the l two men Taylor and Chamberlain. At this hour of writing, nearly l am, the l New York sergeant had not arrived in the city and it could not be learned after the most rigid search and inquiry whether Tay- l Tor and Chamberlain had ever resided in New ! vuh arrivA6 how they had planned the robbery and murder. Chief Bollman says they did not intend to murder the old woman. It is his opinion that they | had visited New Haven for the sole purpose of robbery made inquiries and located Mrs. Ernst's house as the place best fitted for g | robbery They learned that the inmate was wealthy and carried money about with her. | A better or more convenient place for mur- l der or robbery it would be hard to find in the city.
 The basement where nightly carousals were held and where the murdered woman lived, was visited by many disreputable characters. Mrs. Ernst was of quarrelsome disposition and noise in her apartments would be unheeded by the neighbors and other inmates of the tenement. It would be an easy matter for two brawny men to over throw the aged woman and rob her. 1 The suspicious against Strauss and Web l Der, it now transpires, were much stronger than was even predicted by the press. "Web- Der, when seen and examined the morning the murder was committed" says Coroner
 Mix, ''Iooked and acted suspiciously.
 He had been drinking heavily the night be- fore and bore traces of the dissipation. His wife also acted very strangely. Other svi- dence pointed to them also. Strauss also acted strangely, but there was not much that we could glean about him in connection with the case which might point to him as the murderer. Last night after examining Miss Minnie, who is
 an all important person at this end we held a
 consultation and came to the conclusion that we must look out of town for the murderers.
 We then decided fully that Webber did not
 do the deed because after deliberating on the
 matter we at once saw that anyone who
 knew Mrs. Ernst would not have bound her
 and left her to identify them. The finding
 alone shows that the persons who committed
 the deed did not intend to murder. We found that it must have been strangers who
 didn't care particularly whether she saw them or not"